True adepts of fire magic, masters who subjugated and humiliated their element, possibly opening not one or two chakras, once defeated real dragons. Giant, winged creatures, from whom they once began to learn the art of fire control - for me, as an ordinary person, it was difficult to even imagine how, without the element of explosion used by one mercenary in his attempts to kill Aang, it was possible to defeat such a huge machine. This isn't a little man with his small reserve of chi and tiny fists that shoot out funny streams of fire. A dragon is a giant flying flamethrower, probably capable of fighting much longer than a mere human, and able to shower its prey from such a distance that you can't even reach it. I understood perfectly well that lightning was the only option in this case, but I didn't understand how the mages defended themselves. Fire isn't about defence, it has very few defensive techniques, and even if there were some skills for quick dodging, what the fuck can you do when a sunstrike the size of the dragon itself is flying at you? Try to overpower it with magic? It would keep firing until you were roasted by the heat - fire may not be able to kill a dragon, but it can kill a fire mage.
I think there was a trick here. Either the mages were parodying Thor and throwing lightning bolts so fast that the poor flying worm was fried before it even had time to open its mouth, which sounded downright ridiculous, because such a mage alone could capture any town and destroy the entire army of Ba Sing Se, and even the Avatar in his strongest form, having already subdued all his chakras and unlocked his full potential, would be nothing more than a toy to be beaten. Or, let's say it's still nonsense, but they intercepted the enemy's magic by subjugating his qi in its element. It should not be forgotten that the same stones could be lifted from a distance, meaning that energy could be transferred over long distances, and therefore intercepted and then dispelled, in theory, it is possible to defeat the qi in the enemy's element.
There was even an excellent example in the canon, albeit related and not entirely based on magic: qi blockers most likely worked on the same principle of infusing qi, simply pouring their own energy into the right places in a person. However, since the human body is not an element, it cannot be controlled... although blood mages would argue otherwise. This is where it becomes clear what kind of power is needed to defeat a dragon. Three open chakras are the minimum required to infuse and intercept the magic of such a powerful enemy. This is probably where the rumours came from that whoever killed the dragon would improve their magic. Onlookers saw the abilities of the killers and did not understand what was going on.
Well... I couldn't gather that much, even though I was rapidly approaching my cherished goal. I couldn't defeat the dragon, as I didn't possess fire magic, but I wasn't exactly facing a fire-breathing creature, and I hadn't earned a reputation like my brother who flew in the sky. Of course, that didn't change the fact that the water analogue could take down an entire fleet, and I'm not even close to being a water mage who could intercept his chi, but... didn't I know the tricks of these water mages? And how would my reputation grow if stories spread around the world about how the great Sand Mage, who clearly had a weakness for water, defeated Unagi himself?
"Don't turn the ship around, he'll catch up with you if he kills me," my funny tone struck fear into the hearts of the stern men. "Just circle around.And when they saw crystals rise from the deck, forming an abrasive disc, they swallowed hard and hurried to the captain's cabin. It was unlikely to save them, but at least it would prevent them from falling into the water so easily. The giant snake opened its mouth, but not to engage in conversation. Water bubbled in the monster's throat. A single movement would be enough to end everything right now, but by winning easily, I would be condemning myself to future problems. Such are the rules of life, and without Unagi, all the locals would be in big trouble.
"It's shooting!" Afka screamed as she ran into the cabin, and at that moment, the circular disc stood in the way of the compressed, very powerful stream of water. One hand kept the disc in the air and spinning, while the other prevented it from succumbing to the pressure and flying back at me, because the result could have been much worse than being hit by a jet of water, which at that moment was split into two halves, landing on either side of the ship.
"How strong you are," I croaked. One swing of that tail and I'd be in trouble, which is why I was glad I had learned to use magic not only with hand gestures. Striking the side of the ship with my heels, I picked up more crystals and formed them into fists, which I swung with all my might at the monster's angry face. One blow made it stagger, the second closed its mouth and made it growl unpleasantly. At that moment, parts of the snake's body, which had sharp fins along its entire surface, began to break out of the water, surrounding the ship. "And that's good.
Realising that Unagi had withstood a blow that would have broken all the bones of an ordinary person, leaving them disabled for the rest of their life, and very likely killed them instantly by causing severe internal bleeding, I created sand tentacles and hooked the crystal stones I had already created onto their tips. I created quite a few of them, as the boat was able to withstand the weight.
That's why you can't get very far with just skill alone — I grew and developed to protect myself and fight giants like these. I built up my muscles and, more recently, focused on the power aspect of earth magic to ward off threats that an ordinary mage couldn't handle. The influence of my muscles and two open chakras allowed me to do terrible things.
Bam-bam*
The stone that hit him in the face was immediately pushed back by another blow from behind.
The water mages' techniques were truly amazing, especially when combined with Chin's moves. When he struck, he did so in such a way that it was impossible to get up afterwards: Several stones thrown in quick succession allowed him to strike even if one of them was destroyed, and if not, the blow would be even stronger; or he could use a series of combinations, each of which had a guaranteed high chance of hitting and, therefore, causing high damage.
Previously, during a raid on the fire camp, I had only one chakra, and it already allowed me to throw and swing stones like huge clubs, breaking iron structures along the way. Now, having learned to control a large amount of material... accelerating the crystal club with my magic, and then accelerating it even more with my tentacles, I struck the aggressive snake's face with a loud smack. But at that moment, the monster showed that the strength between man and beast was completely incomparable. What could have knocked down even an iron tower simply knocked the monster's head back and made it growl even harder.
I don't know if it saw my writhing tentacles as a territorial rival or if it realised that it was going to kill me, but I had to raise all ten tentacles, at the tips of which clubs were rapidly growing, and simultaneously strike all parts of the body that were about to crash down on the ship. Controlling each tentacle separately, watching which part of the body it would strike, was a real challenge, dozens of times more difficult than simply swinging stones from side to side.
"Damn, they're getting wet too fast. Hey, where are you going?!" Two problems arose at once. My sand got very wet from the spray, making it harder to control, and then the bastard started to go underwater. It wasn't running away, it just had nothing stopping it from sinking the ship from the bottom," - Tsk, maybe it will work now? With two open chakras, it should be faster, right?
Releasing all the sand, I left a little between my palms. A miniature tornado formed between them, the rapidly moving grains rubbing against each other, accumulating static electricity. Due to my limited experience and still insufficient speed, I had to spend an unacceptable amount of time, and the monster almost disappeared, leaving only a membrane fin on the surface. And at that moment, seeing a large electric arc flash through the sand sphere, I abruptly launched the ball at its target, hitting the membrane precisely.
Bzzz!
The sand scattered with great force, causing a weak shock wave that sent small waves rippling out in all directions. But the greatest achievement was the still weak but already terribly unpleasant electric discharge that made the beast first shudder and then...
"Rr-a-a-a-a!" he screamed in such terror, as if for the first time in his life he felt every muscle in his body begin to contract — because that was exactly what was happening! It came as a shock to him that the surrounding water began to beat and sting unpleasantly, piercing his body through and through. And the convulsions that shook his body down to the tip of his tail finally convinced him to get out of there as quickly as possible. So that's how it was... not quite a dragon defeated not quite by lightning, after first beating it with huge stones and landing a couple of solid blows to its snout.
"It got away," I concluded, breathing out wearily. I still had enough strength for a couple more of those bastards, but I was more tired from the fear that the ship would sink. Speaking of the ship... "How are you guys doing?"
Turning to the men who were hugging each other, already resigned to going to the bottom of the sea, I raised an eyebrow. The strangest thing was not that the tough workers were behaving like girls — that was understandable — but that Afka had hidden on the head of one of the men and covered her face with her paws.
Anyway, everyone was alive, so that was fine.
Looking at the horizon, at the island already visible, I sighed deeply. Two important questions were on my mind. Was it possible to combine the styles of two irreconcilable enemies, Kioshi and Chino, and how was he going to make friends with an entire island of people who knew nothing about him? He doubted that they had heard of the cool and powerful sand mage... Once again, he would have to rely on his own strength and eloquence.
***
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